Corey Egler ‘15 – So far on this trip I’ve been the photographer and the social media guy, and now I have the opportunity to reflect on what I have seen, felt and done so far in New York City on this third day.
Today was a big day for me. I felt accomplished as I successfully, for the first time ever, tied my tie all by myself! A great start to the day. I then did some social media work and then went on to have a magnificent bagel with cream cheese at Murray’s Bagels in Chelsea, the neighborhood where we are staying. We spoke with Marvin Denton, the creator of nytheatre.com at the New Ohio Theater, who gave us some insight at the multitude of possibilities that are available in the theater industry in New York City.
My day then became even more exciting. As we were leaving the theater, I happen to tear a small strip of seam on my pants from the end of my left pocket. But no fear! Junior Josh Lutton carries emergency needle and thread with him at all times, so he performed surgery on my rip. What’s even better is that he did it while on a moving NYC subway! It was successful and my pants are now better than ever! Although, we may have received some weird looks from others on the subway, I bet it was not the first time such a thing has happened.
We arrived in Times Square where we split up for a little bit to check out the area and grab lunch. I went with Senior “Papa Raynor” Mendoza and we checked out some stores and then had lunch in a nice little pub called the “Playwrights Pub” which had great food and pictures of numerous famous New York City playwrights.
As we finished lunch, I waited to get my change back and go use the restroom and “Papa Raynor” decided he would go ahead and check out a shop across the street and then I would meet him there when I was finished. Well, “Papa Raynor” who has been trying to teach many of us to be “REAL NEW YORKERS” seemed to have decided to teach me a lesson the hard way and make me fend for myself. For as I arrived at this shop, which was a small Army surplus store that was owned and operated by a Jewish man who had been running that shop for 30 years, I was unable to locate “Papa Raynor” and was now in a hurry to get to the theater we had to be at very soon. I attempted to call Papa but he did not pick up, so I decided to hurry to the theater, but then my poor sense of direction and memory kicked in and instead of coming off of 45th street and taking the easy left and going to 46th where the theater was, I instead made it all the way to 41st street where I was unable to find the theater when dear “Papa Raynor” called me and turned me around. I hurried at a pace almost faster than the typical New Yorker and I did make it to the theater in time for the show!
And boy I am glad I made it on time, because we saw on Broadway Cat On A Hot Tin Roof that starred Scarrlett Johannson and Benjamin Walker (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter). And as expected, it was top notch! During intermission, being the social person that I am, I met an older lady who was an usher at the theater, who was the sweetest thing. Her name was Fran, she was a huge theater admirer and she was retired and wanted to do something she loved and that would keep her busy, and as well to talk to sweet people such as myself.
We then, thanks to the wonderful Jessica Phillips (daughter of our very own Dean Phillips) had the opportunity to go backstage and see how things work, as well as to walk on the stage and see how real everything actually is. The stage is even raised, and you would not be able to tell that from the audience, but it sure makes viewing so much better. We even met Ms. Phillips’s (and Tom Hanks’s) personal dresser, Sara, who took us back stage. Sara’s daughter, Tori, played one of the five children in the play, and she even gave us a tour as well and told us about her busy life of being so young, going to school, and being in a Broadway play. This girl gets home at midnight every night and is up at 6 a.m.
We enjoyed Dim Sum at the oldest Dim Sum restaurant in NYC, Dim Sum is Chinese food that consists of primarily dumplings. We enjoyed the busy and crazy shop life of Chinatown, and ended the evening by going to HERE and watching two one-act plays, that were very interesting and took artistic to a new level.
As this trip continues I am continuing to learn, immerse, try new things and meet new people, experiences that not everyone gets although they should do at least once in their lives. In the words of Robert Frost “I took the road less traveled and that made all the difference in the end” although the roads in NYC are very often traveled.
